Honolulu will get some of the 165 call-center jobs that UAL Corp.'s United Airlines is bringing back to the U.S. from India to help improve customer service.

The jobs will be split between Honolulu and Chicago, the company said, without providing a breakdown of how many positions will go to each city. The jobs will be filled by workers who now handle reservations, the Chicago-based airline said. Beginning in April, the workers will add customer-relations duties, which involve issues or complaints after travel.

"More sophisticated conversations with our guests are much better suited for us to handle instead of a third-party partner," said Robin Urbanski, a United spokeswoman. "We have the deep industry expertise to help our guests navigate through their options."

The move reverses United's decision to ship the positions to India, a step Urbanski said was taken "about two or three years ago."

United said last month it was cutting 1,000 more jobs, pushing the total to 9,000 by year's end, to help stem net losses at parent UAL that totaled $5.35 billion in 2008.

"We have an opportunity to preserve and create jobs for our employees while sharpening our focus on how we respond to our guests when they contact us," Barbara Higgins, vice president for worldwide contact centers, said in the notice to workers.

The memo didn't specify how United's payroll would be affected.

United also said that starting this month, it will begin urging customers to use e-mail or letters instead of calling its customer-relations phone number for complaints or compliments. The line will be shut off at the end of April, the airline said.

Once that service ends, United reservations agents will handle complaints, the carrier said. United charges a $25 fee to book travel by phone.